Minor Prang

Tue 24 Apr 2007 8:09AM compton

Returning from Redditch in the Carisma, along the main road to Birmingham (the A441 or A411 I think), I came round a corner and noticed a guy walking on the pavement. He was just coming up to a drive way, with some kind of round sign, perhaps No Entry. He was holding the red plates of the trade plater, so I decided to stop and offer him a lift. I checked mirrors, indicated, and pulled in. The car behind me appeared to have no difficulty stopping, it certainly didn't appear to be particularly close behind me when it had come to a standstill. The road is very wide, and I wasn't even expecting that car to stop, they could have passed me by with room to spare. I began to move the items from the front seat to make way for the plater, who was a little way behind me, as I had stopped 50-70 yards up the road from him. I heard the shocking noise of a car skidding, shortly followed by the dread bang and ongoing crashing noise of a car impact. In those few moments, I remember thinking with exasperation, 'who hit me?', 'how could they hit me?' I think I released the handbrake to help the car recoil from the impact (it is incredible how you are able to think and make distinct decisions in such short spaces of time), and I think I was deciding whether or not to try to move forward using the engine. I should've - I didn't, or if I did, I did so very hestitantly. I realised that I had not been hit, and for a moment thought I was going to avoid being hit. But then I felt and heard a car hitting me from behind. This was a considerably quieter and shorter noise than the first bang. Surely there can only have been one or one and a half seconds between the two impacts, yet it seems I was able to think and do so much. I got out the car, I think it was still dawning on me exactly what had happened, ie that a third car had hit the car which had been stopped behind me. The passenger was getting out of the second car, however the lady driver did not look in a good way. I was still under the impression this was a very low speed crash, until I saw the damage to the third vehicle at the back. I spent a few moments checking the driver of the second car, she seemed to be much worse off than seemed possible, it didn't make a lot of sense to me. A woman had arrived from somewhere, perhaps a local resident. She seemed to be tending to the driver, who was shaking, and had her eyes closed. I said, 'What about this guy, is he ok?' referring to the driver of the third car. I could see movement from him, there was no one else in his car, which had considerable damage to the front end. There was a really large distance between the two cars, perhaps 15 feet, and also a long skid mark going for about 10 or 15 feet from his nearside front tyre. I opened his passenger door, it was a bit stuck, but opened ok. I did that because it would be safer to leave by that side. However it was apparent that he was not going to be clambering out that way, so I went to the other door. I opened it, and there was a strong burning chemical smell - in reterospect it was almost certainly the smell of burning brake pads. I was concerned about a fire risk, although there was no smell of petrol. There was some steam, but no smoke. I tried to talk reassuringly to the driver. He asked about the driver of the second car, I said I think she's ok - really I should have been more confident, and said that she was just fine.